<p>The purpose of this study was to better understand how school teachers negotiate the Australian Curriculum to increase learner engagement and agency by managing negotiables and non-negotiables. In-depth interviews with seven teachers across a Foundation to Year 10 school were conducted to gain insights into their perspectives on curriculum negotiation and the processes used by individual teachers to enact it. Data was analysed iteratively, utilising reflexive thematic analysis. All teachers demonstrated a passion for curriculum negotiation and provided examples for aligning curriculum and pedagogy to enhance students’ intellectual and emotional engagement. The study found that teachers who were willing to explore various methods for curriculum negotiation fostered diverse learners’ intellectual development by giving them voice, choice, and ownership over their learning. This paper provides insights into elements of curriculum negotiation undertaken by the teachers, which went beyond basic pedagogy and curriculum work. This study showed that teachers can be transformative and organic intellectuals when they evaluate student related constraints on learning to allow students to be actively engaged in the decision-making processes associated with their own learning.</p>